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The Toronto Maple Leafs take on the Arizona Coyotes for the second time in just over a week and the Leafs are hoping to not see a repeat of their performance against Vegas, who rebounded from a one-sided Toronto victory in Sin City with their own on Tuesday.
The big news is the return of goalie Joseph Woll to the lineup after missing nearly three months with a high-ankle sprain. The Leafs were fortunate during that span that Martin Jones came up big in late December and January and that Ilya Samsonov rebounded after being waived to provide Toronto with competent play between the pipes, but many believe that Woll returning to the form he displayed prior to his injury on December 7 in Ottawa may be a critical factor in the Leafs having a chance of advancing in the playoffs.
“With any player coming off of the IR, you give him as much time as possible to make sure they are good. But (starting him vs. Arizona) is the plan.” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said on Thursday morning. “There is how he played (before the injury), and you also saw how hard he worked to get himself ready, especially in the last three weeks or so. He has been right there, and there is just one last little hurdle for him to get over. You want to get him back in the net. He is an important guy for our team.”
Keefe confirmed that the Leafs will carry three goalies with Jones no longer being waiver-exempt. Against Arizona, Toronto will go with the same lineup they dressed against the Golden Knights, with Timothy Liljegren still day-to-day with an unspecified injury.
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The Leafs dodged a bullet with the announcement on Wednesday night that the Calgary Flames had dealt defenseman Chris Tanev to the Dallas Stars (with 50% of his salary retained) for a 2024 second-rounder, prospect Artem Grushnikov, a conditional 2026 pick, and a 2026 fourth rounder to get New Jersey to retain an additional 25%.
Clearly, the chatter that Toronto would have had to offer up their 2024 first-round pick was a “Leaf Tax” or that Calgary did not want to deal a player to former GM Brad Treliving’s new club. The 34-year-old will help the Stars in their pursuit of the Stanley Cup and Toronto will be at the front of the line to sign the veteran righty as an unrestricted free agent this summer, but between now and 3 pm on March 8, Treliving will have to explore his other options.
Other than Noah Hanifin, the price tag for rental defensemen will undoubtedly be significantly lower than two picks and a prospect. The only potential righty option that would be close to that cost might be Matt Dumba, mostly because teams like Toronto will need to get a third team to take another 25% of his $3.9 million salary to fit under their cap. Dallas was thought to be one of the main pursuers of the 29-year-old, so the return the Coyotes will ask could involve the Islanders 2024 third-round pick the Leafs got for Pierre Engvall before the deadline last February.
Although there have been some indicators that Treliving would like to get a player with term remaining, a rental such as former Leaf Ilya Lyubushkin looks to be more likely.
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